This morning Elizabeth and I walked around Dow's Lake and the Glebe to admire the tulips.  I don't think they are still going to be blooming for the Tulip Festival as most are in full bloom now!  Elizabeth did not want to pose for her picture.  Several attempts ended with me chasing her as she took off pushing the stroller down the path.

 

In the afternoon we went to Baby Sensory again.  Elizabeth signed along with the songs, even holding up her index finger for "one little duck". When the blue tarp came out she boldly crawled right underneath.  I guess she knew what to expect from yesterday.

 

Does it sound like I'm working full time?  I am, but not exactly during normal working hours!

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Elizabeth and I went to a Baby Sensory make-up session today (we had a slight interruption due to the last fire in the Glebe).  From Elizabeth's perspective this was an excellent week for double Baby Sensory, as it was bring-a-change-of-clothing day, otherwise known as playing with water!

 

Instructor Clarissa had these awesome glowing ducks from the dollar store that lit upon contact with the water.  Apparently there are frogs available too, which I am seriously considering trying to acquire.  Clearly for Elizabeth's sake...

 

One of the activities included using a blue tarp as a parachute.  Under the parachute all kinds of streamers and foil fish were hung for the babies to admire.  Some of the babies were really interested but Elizabeth was a bit scared.

 

After Baby Sensory we went to the Ontario Early Years Centre down the road for the drop-in and toy library.  The last few times we went there were only a few other kids but today they happened to have a free dental clinic while we were there and it was buzzing with activity.  Apparently Elizabeth has eight teeth (!)  She didn't appreciate her tooth inspection or gum poking too much but smiled afterwards when presented with magnets and a new toothbrush.  The City of Ottawa recommends that we brush after every meal, including breastfeeding.  Even though the toothbrush glows in the dark, I'm still not getting up to brush teeth after night feedings.

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Elizabeth turned 14 months old today!

 

She has six teeth (three on the top, three on the bottom) and weighs 8 kg.  Mealtimes continue to be an adventure.  Elizabeth eats everything as long as it's chocolate.  Favourites include pasta, rice, peaches, broccoli, cheese, cereal, bread and ice cream.  Some days she can't get enough peaches / broccoli / cheese.  Other days she spits these out in disgust. "Done" is still her favourite word and sign.  She uses it whenever she wants to do something else now.  Especially in the car.  She's started to sign "more" but we're not quite sure whether she actually means more or if she means "again" or "want".  If she can see something that she wants she'll often point to it rather than signing.  If the thing that she wants is not on the table, she turns around and points to the kitchen.

 

In the last week she's started to drink a measurable amount from a sippy cup.  She usually drinks about 25mL to 50mL of milk.  We've stopped offering water except for special occasions because we don't want to fill her tummy full of empty calories.  She's still not that fond of juice.

 

We're having a bit of a regression on the using the toilet front, which we understand is fairly common at this age.  This is not popular with Mom or Dad.  Mommy has been pretty tired recently which means she's been less attentive to signals.  We actually had a poopy diaper while out and about the other day.  That was actually kind of funny because Mommy didn't quite know how to deal with it (haven't had to since before Elizabeth started solids!)

 

Elizabeth is still very busy and possibly getting busier.  Leaving the house helps!  At home Elizabeth likes to climb stairs, play with her sorting eggs, read her books, bounce her ball and hug her teddies.  She also likes to ride her tricycle and push her stroller around and around the basement. Although she's still not walking on her own, she seems closer every day. 

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Memories of yesterday's blue skies, blazing sun and high of 18 degrees have faded quickly in the face of today's wet flurries.  Aside from all the spring flowers everywhere it feels like late November! 

 

Of course, a few flurries weren't enough to curb Elizabeth's desire to go outside, so when I read that the currency museum is located inside a "tropical indoor Garden court", it was obvious where we'd be headed after her nap. (2010 museum count: 6. Remaining # of museums to visit: 30.)

 

I'd never been to the currency museum before but I was quite impressed, especially since there is no admission fee.  The architecture and landscaping are really beautiful.  Hopefully it's not wasted on the bankers and accountants that get to work out of offices backing onto the garden court! 

 

We duly admired the Rai stone money from Yap and Elizabeth had fun dropping a penny or two into the wishing pool.  The museum itself is only a few rooms but they've made good use of the space and it's jam-packed with information.  I was only able to read a few snippets here and there as I was also supervising Elizabeth but what I did see was fascinating enough to warrant a second visit.  I think a guided tour of this place would be very interesting too.

 

The displays are very artistically arranged, although I don't know whether this comes across in my photos (No flash photography allowed, plus dim lighting, plus active baby doesn't lend itself to brilliant pictures.)  The museum reminded me a lot of an art gallery. The physical space has a lot of comfortable places to sit, including bean bag chairs for the younger visitors. 

 

A few of the things I found particularly interesting:

• A reproduction of an actual "talent".  Somehow this wasn't what I visualized last time I read Matthew 25:14-30. 
• The simulated bank vault with all kinds of older and newer bills.  I took a picture of the Portugal slide just for Grandma and Grandpa H!  Newer Canadian bills are much less pretty than their predecessors.
• The whole discussion of coin shortages in the colonies.  So many people made coins back then!  I was strongly reminded of Terry Pratchett's very amusing "Making Money", which Brendan and I recently finished reading.

The exhibits are surprisingly child-friendly.  Elizabeth was delighted to discover at least three different colouring stations.  Not quite as popular as the colouring was the exhibit with different fur to pet (pelts were used as currency).  Possibly this reminded her of the scary polar bear at the Museum of Nature, but eventually she got into petting the fur and flipping the panels up to see the corresponding animal underneath.

 

Elizabeth's favourite part of the museum was probably the two coin memory games.  Each game had eight pairs of matching coin reproductions hidden by panels attached with velcro.  Elizabeth spent quite a lot of time pulling the panels off, throwing them over her shoulder and then grabbing them and putting them back on again. 

 

A group of about fifty teenagers arrived just as we were leaving so I quickly stuffed a protesting Elizabeth into her snowsuit.  We walked home with wet snowflakes streaming out of the sky.

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Elizabeth may yet start walking on her own.  She is spending more and more time standing up and walking around things.  Last night she was playing in the living room while K&D visited with us and started pushing her small chair around using it as a walker.

 

She also seems to be really loving the warmer weather and constantly points outside.  When someone can be persuaded to take her outside she loves every second of it.   Good thing she hasn't yet figured out how to combine her new door opening skill with her desire to explore!

 

I think we are going to be spending a lot of time outside this summer.  Any thoughts on good outdoor dirt and UV resistant baby clothing?

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